Lugh narrowed his eyes, jaw rippling, but he gave a nod and followed me a short distance across the lawn, just far enough away so that the sorcerer couldn’t overhear ourconversation.
“You’re going to have to agree to relax a bit with the restrictions,” I said in a whisper. “Trust me. I know what stubborn looks like, and it’s that woman rightthere.”
He scowled. “I can’t do that, and you know it. There are too many magical drugs out there that can kill. They’re like poison. I’ve never bothered with Jezebel much because she’s stuck to Sapphire, which is harmless. But if she starts dealing the harder stuff, she’ll have to bestopped.”
“I get that Lugh, but she has information aboutyour—”
“What’s that?” Lugh asked darkly, pointing in the direction of the sorcerer. I glanced over my shoulder and sucked in a sharp breath of air. The sorcerer had vanished. Of course she had. In her place stood about two dozen vampires. In the heavy darkness, I couldn’t see their faces, but I could sense them all thesame.
Lugh’s words rang in my ears. The vampires of Edinburgh were nothing like those of London. Down south, the fae had made an alliance with the vamps. They were organised, calm, and...well, caring wasn’t the right word, but they had some semblance of morality. They didn’t killhumans.
These vampsdid.
And, if I were a betting kind of bird, I’d put a hell of a lot of money down on them being here just forus.
Suddenly, a figure in white rushed past us. Jezebel’s face was as pale as her dress, and her hands were shaking. “Run!”
Yeah, that wasn’t ominousatall.
“Draw your weapon, Moira,” Lugh said quietly, drawing his spear from the holster strapped to his back. It wasn’t his five-pointed weapon, but it looked pretty formidable all the same. It had a long wooden staff that led to a glistening silver point that looked sharp enough to cut throughsteel.
I drew my sword. In the distance, the vampiresroared.
They rushed us. Twenty, or more, vampires raced across the lawn. Their voices shot into the night sky in unison, terrifying cries of pure rage. Heart hammering, I squeezed the hilt of my sword and bent my legs, bouncing on the balls of myfeet.
A slight current of excitement went through me. It had been far too long since I’d trulyfought.
The first vampire reached me, and I swung hard at his head. Moving with impossible speed, he rushed to the side. My sword found air, whistling through the night. With another swing, the blade connected with his gut. It sliced straight through his abdomen, and black blood spilled on the pristine grass. I yanked my sword out of his belly and watched him tumble to hisdeath.
Gritting my teeth, I moved to the next vamp, only to find two more instead. They launched toward me with sharp, talon-like nails outstretched. I ducked down low. They flew past me, screeching. Before they could regain their footing, I sliced through one, grabbed a dagger from beneath my jacket, and threw it at the second. It landed with athunkin the vamp’shead.
They both fellhard.
Beside me, I could hear Lugh fighting just as hard. His spear sank into vamp after vamp after vamp. I whirled toward the next enemy. Three more vamps loomedlarge.
They were on me before I could even hold up my sword. Their bodies collided with mine, and my sword flew across the lawn. My back hit the ground hard, my teeth knocking together. The vampires screeched, their sharp claws scratching at myskin.
I screamed into their faces, throwing my body left and right to knock them to the ground. One grabbed my hand and pressed it against the grass. Its eyes were bright red, its teeth elongated. It looked like a wild animal, nothing like the vampires I’d met inLondon.
With a deep breath, I steeled myself and slammed my forehead against the vampire’s. It screeched and fell back, giving me time to slam my fist into the nose of the second. Bone crunched beneath my knuckles. That only leftone.
Before I could launch my attack, the vamp leaned down and sunk its teeth into my skin. A sharp, stabbing pain lanced through my neck, and Iscreamed.
But then its weight vanished off my chest. I scrabbled back, eyes wide as Lugh sunk his spear into the vampire’s head. Black blood spurted out, drenching my shirt. It stank of iron and salt and a strange kind of mildew that made bile rise in mythroat.
In the name of the Morrigan, these things were as bad as theSluagh.
“You okay?” Lugh asked, huffing, as he tossed the dead vampire onto a pile just behindhim.
I stared up at him, my heart still racing. “I think so.” Reaching up, my hand smeared against the blood on my neck. “It bitme.”
Normally, I wouldn’t refer to a vampire as anit, but in this case, the title seemed appropriate. These things were like rabid animals. They’d lost any sort of humanity they’d everhad.
Lugh reached out a hand, and I took it. His strong fingers curled around me, shooting warmth into my chilly body. He pulled me to my feet and wrapped his arms around me. Sighing, I leaned into him and closed my eyes. The attack hadn’t been anything worse than I had faced before, but I still felt relief at being in hisarms.
Suddenly, sharp nails dug into my arms and ripped me out of Lugh’s embrace. Eyes wide, I yanked against the grip, panic shooting through me when I saw another swarm of vampires surroundingLugh.
Several more had grabbed ahold of me, and it took all of my enhanced fae strength to drag myself away from them. My sword glistened in the distance, the light of the moon dancing along the blade. It was halfway across the lawn. Too far for me to make. I danced from side to side, dodging the blows of the vampires. From behind me, I heard Lughroar.
